al jazeera. wherever you are. european leaders gather in brussels for the go see actions to fill the e.u.'s top jobs. and again i'm adrian finnegan this is a live from doha also coming up protest leaders in khartoum hope a 2 day national strike will force military leaders to a new round of talks. serbian troops are put on the cost of and police launch an operation in a serb dominated breach. the palace here a journalist must call into the hussein is sent back to jail in egypt after another

investigation is launched to him it into him after just days after a pause at all of this release. european leaders are meeting in brussels to discuss who they want to fill the e use top jobs backroom negotiations have already begun to appoint the commission's president of the other heads of the e.u. institutions elections or center right and center left parties lose support and populists liberals and greens taking advantage of voter anger with the current direction of the you let's go live out of brussels also serious david chase is there so david the search is on to fill the e.u.'s top jobs. yes the job we're talking about of course is the president of the european commission presently held by john quoting now there are several names that have

been mentioned and the one that the the chance of germany angela merkel is backing is of course a 46 year old the varian who's the leader of the european people spot is the the bloc that got the biggest number of votes although they lost some compared to 2014 in the latest parliamentary elections now a mantra to vera has never held any elected office a tool before he's a complete product of the bureaucracy of the european parliament and he is that she of being opposed by the french president emmanuel macron he said that he wasn't going to discuss when he arrived here in brussels he was going to discuss name a name or any other names but he wanted to which whoever was chosen this is kind of to be. adaptable to the widest range of issues within the european union so there seems to be a split

a clear split between the 2 main powers within the european union between paris and berlin so we'll have to wait and see how this turns out but it does appear that the new future of the european parliament after these elections will be one where more compromises have to be made and more time has to be taken over each individual decision both on appointments and of course more importantly on policy david britain's prime minister tourism a is in attendance home last brussels summit as prime minister before her resignation what does she have to say. it was. a mixture of well compared to what we last saw when she very emotionally returned to downing street tears in her eyes saying she she loved her country and she tried to serve in the best way possible

a much stronger performance here she arrived as you say for the last time she said that she had regrets course that she couldn't find. any way to fulfill bragg's it and to be the prime minister to make sure the brig's it happened but in the end she realized that of course the time was up as she tried to have the time and the compromises with the european union to try also to get the time in the compromises from the british parliament but that proved impossible with just one point adrian the last time she was here she didn't join there was an emergency summit she didn't join the others for dinner she had to wait in a side room where they discussed the latest emergency plans as she put forward to try and push the deal through so at least she is joining the other members here for dinner. being prime minister i've been to something like 15 months leasing zamora

and everyone is a i've been working hard to negotiate the best possible deal for the u.k. in leaving the european union it is massive great regrets me because i have been able to deliver as rex's but of course that matter is now for my successor and they would have to find a way of addressing the very strongly held views on both sides of this of this issue and to do that and to get a majority in parliament as i said on friday i think will require compromise. so the british prime minister. perhaps some final words in brussels and she'll be listening at least to the the discussions informal discussions at the at the dinner to find out what they see as the future of the european union a future which seems pretty clear will now be controlled by a very different parliament very different appointments and

a new generation of leaders who will be in charge during those crucial talks about trade with britain if and when it finally does come through to everybody things such as it was david chase of the live in brussels protest leaders in sudan are stepping up the pressure on the transitional military council to hand over power to a civilian one administrator a 2 day strike is on the way with workers nationwide walking off the jobs imran khan reports from khartoum. on any other day this would be the main transport hub for the whole local to that the central bus station is shut and the general strike is holding disruption to the capital's airport would strike is displaying signs saying we will build our country shops and businesses are closed citywide and protesters are out in the streets a handful of shops and government offices did open but the strike is widespread enough for the organizers to deem it

a success the plan today walkout was organized by the sudanese professionals association speaking on monday night before the strike started organizers said they were forced into taking action because the transitional military council are not negotiating in good faith. c by me list so what are the sole guarantor of the revolution are the sudanese people and the law and order in what we agree upon as a constitutional declaration or otherwise this is the guarantor of the revolution not a military rifle for the workers who. walked out they hope that the military leaders who replaced ousted president omar al bashir will listen to their demands for a civilian led government 2 just like this but we're going for more they don't. want her she was a little shocked when you know the 1st the transitional military council has criticized the strike saying it won't hand over power to an unstable civilian government it's also said that the army is the most popular institution in the

country according to these people that's not true however the transitional military council will be very concerned that the strike is holding and it's courtroom wide the opposition coalition will be hoping that the strike gives them negotiating power and that the transitional military council will have to listen and reopen talks if they don't opposition leaders say they will take further action such as more strikes for now the padlocks remain firmly closed as do the talks between the 2 parties iraq on which is there a lot of troops in serbia been put on high alert off the cost of an police made several arrests in the northern semi autonomous territory dominated by sobs police said they were targeting organized crime but serbian leaders who don't recognize cost of those independence say the officers were sent to intimidate them or a challenge reports. in the air and on the ground kosovan police in metro are on edge their raid into parts of the city has prompted serbia's army to

be put on full combat readiness. this morning at 629 as a commander in chief of the armed forces i ordered full military readiness of our armed units in case of any serious disturbance of water or danger to life of serbs in northern kosovo our armed forces will protect our people. serbia's ally russia has called it a provocation the un says a russian u.n. worker has been released by cost of and police after angry protests from moscow at his detention. the u.n. is demanding the release of another employee also alleged to have been detained and injured the river and makeshift barricades divide the 2 ethnic harv's of the city majority albanian kosovo declared independence from serbia in 2008 a decade after nato stepped in to support cost of an forces in their separatist war

with belgrade but north mature still has a population that is mainly and many of them like serbia itself still do not accept kosovo as an independent country nato peacekeeping force in kosovo k. for is urging calm and says it's ready to intervene if necessary kosovo's government hasn't confirmed how many people have been arrested albanians and bosniaks are among them the president says the operation has about law enforcement and nothing else. that i am sorry but belgrade should not under any circumstances be an address that protects those involved in crimes regardless of their ethnicity and with its bloody history and complex ethnic and religious divisions the balkans have long been a focus for international tensions anger is rising there once again. now to syria. al-jazeera journalist mahmoud a saying is still in an egyptian prison days after a court ordered his release in a statement hussein's family has said that

a new investigation has been opened against him and sames been held now for more than $880.00 days without charge trial or conviction after he was arrested in egypt while on a family holiday let's speak to scott griffin who's the deputy director of the international press institute he joins us now via skype from vienna scott what's your reaction to this. well our reaction to this latest news is that it's confirming the worst fear which is that despite the court ruling last week one mother who says release the egypt stories will find some way to keep him behind bars we had hoped that at the very least he would be released under some kind of conditions you know that he would have to report to prison for example which is obviously not ideal but at least he would be able to be freed and spend time with his family so we're very concerned that this latest move is a sign that egypt is not going to let go to say that what is to be done about this

i mean the media campaign. in favor of of him highlighting his plight. has had little reaction what can be done now. i think we need a lot more pressure from egypt's allies in the 1st place we need countries that our western powers that are allied that see a friendly face in the courage of the government to stand up for the values that they claim to protect if you look at the u.k. for example which has announced a major campaign for media freedom globally you know egypt is the kind of country that these sorts of campaigns need to be targeting it's absolutely except of all that allied countries are killing journalists like this and then the case of much i would say to me if i do think there has been some impact we finally had a court ruling that ordered his release but the authorities have decided to step in and stop that i mean we had some success really this year to unesco awarded ready

its journalism prize to a photographer shot and he was released under conditions and we were as i said more hopeful that that was what would happen in my case so we're calling for more pressure from the egypt's allies we've written to the foreign minister yesterday urging the governments to other finally set him free and what does this say about the status of press freedom and the safety of journalists in egypt. this to press freedom in egypt is extremely serious ready as there are several dozen journalists in prison we believe it's very difficult to get an accurate count of the egyptian government has set up a legal structure that gives that i will total control over the judiciary for example which is a big problem when it comes to upholding journalists' rights in courts the government regularly shuts down or blocks independent news websites like our own the serious i.p.o. . so it shows ringback that the gyptian government has no interest in allowing

independent voices like it was of al-jazeera to bring information to the public and it's very unfortunate and like i said we need continued pressure from countries that profess to care about press freedom to take a stand in egypt for people like marco to say scott good to talk to you many thanks to it's got great from there in vienna we're going to weather update bexhill on al-jazeera then. that's what i would die for it. claiming drug companies for the deaths of thousands on a landmark court case could make them responsible for the u.s. opioid crisis and reelection success for the president a long way but the arguments over. same flooding rains into southern parts of china recently and that wet weather

staying in position you can see the angry looking thunderheads here have been rumbling a wife quite some time just to the west of hong kong 2 $136.00 millimeters of rain here in 24 hours and we're looking at over twice that over the past couple of days that wet weather starts to recede but it's still very much in evidence to go on through wednesday there's that wet weather across the south of china not quite as widespread but still some hefty downpours coming in as we go on through thursday drop right disguising temperatures now on call going up to around 28 celsius some of the showers to into eastern parts of india the southwest the monsoon the monsoon rains to summarize the try to make their way further northwest nicobar islands out of mar as the rains of setting but they're not quite pushed up into the far south of myanmar further north we have got lousy draw skies the prey monsoon he continues well into the forty's then for many central and northern parts of india for the south some showers there it's

a tumble now day and also into carola what it's for showers to into southern parts of the arabian peninsula but for much of the region it's fine dry and getting hotter. what is left of the vast indigenous knowledge that colonize ation of the americas has assaulted for centuries to amateur astronomers embark on a journey of discovery and reach a remote village in mexico's mayan region but who has more to learn about the ways of the world a route through mexico is contemporary wreckage and its mystical past we'll find out glances on al-jazeera.

hello again this is al jazeera live from doha let's remind you of the main news this hour european leaders are meeting in brussels to talk about the new people but they want to fill the unions top jobs the leaders of france and germany are at odds over who should be the next president of the european commission. a 2 day nationwide strike is underway and saddam protest protest leaders are trying to pressure the military to start a new round of talks for civilian government. about al jazeera journalist marco to say it is back in prison in egypt early days after of course that all of his release saints family says a new investigation has been opened against him say it's been held down for more than $880.00 days without charge trial or conviction after he was arrested in egypt one of the family holiday. a test case begins in the u.s. on whether individual states can hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for

widespread addiction to prescription drugs millions of americans are hooked on painkillers which resemble other opiates such as morphine and heroin as i gallagher reports the lawyers in oklahoma are arguing that a drug manufacturer is to blame for the so-called opioid crisis that's after 2 other companies settled out of court. it's a drug crisis of epic proportions that's what i wouldn't die for it according to the center for disease control in 2017 close 250000 people died from overdosing on drugs more than a 3rd of those deaths were caused by prescription opioids given to patients for pain faced with a growing crisis oklahoma's attorney general decided to take action to big drug companies purdue pharma and tiva pharmaceuticals have already settled before being taken to court that leaves johnson and johnson who lawyers say are an opioid kingpin these companies we believe. made no effort.

when this process began 20 years ago to ensure that they were providing in a clear and informed way what the downside was oklahoma's case is just the 1st of almost 2000 lawsuits brought by states local municipalities and native american tribes this then is an important test case for the entire nation if lawyers here can prove a multi-billion dollar company like johnson and johnson played a role in the opioid crisis the ramifications could be huge ultimately campaigners say it will save lives and could be the beginning of tackling a crisis has claimed so many legal experts say whatever happens drug manufacturer is watching closely and think it's going to have a really good benefit for the public and the whole in terms of the safety and the marketing of drops in april president trump valid to tackle the opioid crisis by

providing more treatment and oversight of big pharmaceutical companies we will end this terrible menace we will smash the grip of addiction we will make our cities safe our communities strong and our future brighter than ever before as one united nations we will work we will pray and we will fight for. the day when every family across our land can live in a drug free america. the opioid crisis has already claimed countless victims over the last 2 decades and continues to blight the lives of millions pharmaceutical companies claim they're not responsible but courts across the us and now primed to hold them to account. he joins us now live from oklahoma and he was the oklahoma attorney general's plan of attack against such a massive company. well the difficulty here is for the state

lawyers to prove that a big pharmaceutical company like johnson and johnson did something wrong because potentially or because what they're selling is not a legal i watched your opening arguments this morning because it is being live stream which is a highly unusual thing to do. with their arguments are that basically the companies didn't state how dangerous these highly addictive painkillers can be they flooded the market with these dangerous drugs and acted without the transparency that was necessary they're actually using a very ancient oklahoma law or a public nuisance law to try and prove what they did here is has added to the opioid crisis that killed a 100 people just in the state of oklahoma last year this state of course is one of the most uninsured states in the united states i spoke to a doctor this morning who treats patients with painkiller addiction he said treating those people over the next few years will cost close to 98000000000 dollars of course 2 of the drug companies already settled out of court for just

over $300000000.00 combined that's just a drop in the ocean to the kind of money this state needs but this case is important because it's the 1st one there are 2000 other pending cases across this country as various states prepared to hold these companies to account for what they say they've done in this opioid crisis so it's being watched very closely whether they win or lose the strategies used here may be used in other states so it is extremely important and of course it's again one of the biggest companies in the world johnson and johnson which is worth about $30000000000.00 so the opening arguments have begun this is a judge only case it may last for a couple of weeks it may even last for a couple of months there are simply millions and millions of documents to go through but it is an important case and one being watched closely across the entire nation. is that you got to go there live in oklahoma city. the united nations security council has discussed the worsening humanitarian crisis in syria the month long syrian government offensive against the last remaining rebel held areas is

showing no signs of a let up and provinces around the bombardment by syria russian warplanes their attacks are forcing hundreds of thousands of syrians to head north toward circle in search of safety diplomatic editor james bays reports now from the u.n. . again we've had a security council meeting it seems to become a very regular process over the last month every week it seems we have a meeting where the security council or at least many members of the security council condemned the bombardment of it live and yet that bombardment goes all the un security council this meeting hearing from the deputy emergency relief coordinator coordinator of the united nations who made this appeal contour this council take any concrete action when attacks on schools and hospitals have become a war tactic that no longer sparks outrage is

there nothing to be said or done when indiscriminate barrel bombs are dropped in civilian areas a clear breach of international humanitarian law and of council resolution 2139. millions of battered and beleaguered children women and 1000000 cannot wait for another geneva round to succeed so in action she's condemning by the security council but the council of course remains very divided on this issue we heard that some 22 medical facilities had been hit in the last month the u.s. said it wanted accountability from the french ambassador said that that probably amounts to war crimes but we've heard a very different story coming from the russian side surgery vershinin who is the deputy foreign minister in charge of the syria file saying that the deescalation

zone that his country in turkey of the guarantee of was now a 99 percent controlled by what he said was terrorists and he said that they were responsible for using rocket launchers for using combat drones to attack russian forces so certainly the russians who clearly are involved in the air campaign with the syrian government say they're fighting terrorists they may well be right that there are armed groups there in a globe but there also are 3000000 people many of them women and children white house adviser jared is in morocco drumming up support for the american plan on the future of palestine and israel u.s. envoy is a deal in jordan and israel later this week donald trump's son in law is due to present the economic part of the plan at a conference in bahrain next month the palestinians are rejecting the proposals an urgent arab boycott of the conference mike hanna reports now from washington. the

white house has confirmed that jared cushion is traveling to morocco then on to jordan then a west jerusalem before going on to join president trump on his state visit to the united kingdom now he's accompanied by special representative jason greenblatt and the u.s. iran representative brian hook it would appear that this trip is connected to the conference for bahrain next month at which the jared cushion is says that economic aspects of his settlement proposal for israel and palestine are to be discussed he's insisted that the economic aspect of this deal needs to be settled before the political aspects can be addressed now significant believe the king of jordan king abdullah has not indicated whether he'll be attending that conference in bahrain equally morocco has not made clear whether it will be attending the palestinian leaders have made very clear they will not be attending that conference insisting

that they no longer see the u.s. as an honest break in the ongoing conflict between israel and palestine so very important for jared to convince king abdullah to convince morocco to take part in that conference otherwise it could well lose whatever credibility it may have the president of malawi has been sworn in for a 2nd term after last week's closely for selection peace with erica on the vote with just a 3 percent lead over his rival. results were delayed by a high courtroom view after the opposition accused the ruling democratic progressive party a vote temporary of formal inauguration will be held on friday for me to miller for is following this from johannesburg. bitter motoric has been sworn in for his 2nd term as president he's managed to hold on to power following

a vote that was marred by fraud allegations last week opposition parties obtain a court interdict to stop the results being announced they complained at the time that in some cases numbers on many votes count sheets would change to using correction fluid they said there were irregularities in results from 10 of malawi's 28 districts but now once that interdict was lifted the electoral commission announced that mubarak who heads the ruling democratic progressive party won with 58 percent of the vote while the opposition the malawi congress party had about 35 percent of the mc pieces that the election was 40 learned specifically the vote counting and one opposition wanted the vote the result rather to be a nulled now the european union said that the campaigning ahead of elections were transparent and well managed but there were concerns around the election itself in terms of these allegations of vote rigging when would arika 1st came into power in

2014 when he began his 1st t.v. said he would began his 1st term rather he said he would fight corruption but since then he's had allegations around corruption made against him specifically around some dubious political donations now the opposition parties or some have said that the except the result and they've also congratulated. others have said that they will continue to oppose the election result. the un's refugee agency says that ethnic fighting is forcing thousands of nigerians to seek refuge in neighboring new jab around $20000.00 fled homes in the last month alone fighting has flared between farmers and herders of different ethnic groups kidnappings for ransom are also on the rise. malaysia says it won't be bullied into becoming a dumping ground for waste from other countries it's sending thousands of tons of rubbish back to britain the us canada saudi arabia and china the philippines is in

a similar dispute with canada the malaysian government has clamped down on dozens of illegal plastic recycling factories since china imports of plastic waste last year. it is good to have you with us hello adrian forgetting here in doha the top stories this hour 0 european leaders are meeting in brussels to talk about the new names they want to fill the union's top jobs backroom negotiations have already begun to appoint the commission's president of the other heads of the e.u. institutions britain's prime minister to reason may is attending those talks in brussels she says her successor will need to find common ground between adversarial parties in the e.u. to deliver briggs's. prime minister i've been to something like 15 pounds or more and everyone has a right been working hard to get the best possible deal for the u.k.

and leaving the european union and its national great regret to me because i have been able to deliver. but of course that's massive resound for my successor and they would have to find a way of addressing the base strongly held views on both sides of this issue and to do that and to get a majority in parliament as i said on friday i think will require compromise. a 2 day nationwide strike is underway and protest leaders are trying to pressure the military to start a new round of talks for a civilian government. troops in serbia been put on high alert after council and police made several arrests in the north of the territory which is dominated by. the family of al jazeera journalist mahmoud to say and says that a new investigation is but opened against him early days after gyptian court ordered his release hussein's been held down for more than $880.00 days without charge or trial or conviction after he was arrested in egypt one of the family

holiday. white house adviser jared kush is in morocco drumming up support for the american plan of the future of palestine and israel donald trump's son in law is due to present the economic part of the plan at a conference in bahrain in june palestinians reject the proposals of the urging an arab boycott of the conference. the united nations security council is discussed the worsening humanitarian crisis in syria the month flown syrian government offensive against the last remaining rebel held areas shows no signs of letting up hama provinces around the bombardment by syrian and russian warplanes there's the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after viewfinder latin america next.

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